von Bothmer, Karl

1999 0-7734-3215-9The diary records by Baron Karl von Bothmer, officer of the German army’s General Staff, represent one of the most important sources on the history of Soviet-German relations in 1918. Eye-witness and direct participant in all the events related to the conclusion of the ‘Brest peace’, Baron Karl von Bothmer was sent to Russia as a representative of high command on a German diplomatic mission. Reflecting the extremely subjective author’s beliefs, heritage, and details of his activities, the diary provides, a unique opportunity to feel the atmosphere of the first months after the October revolution of 1917, many characteristic everyday features, and details the most important events in the spring-summer 1918. A direct witness of the assassination of Count Mirbach, the German envoy in Moscow, participant of the negotiations with G.V. Chicherin, K.B. Radek, L.D. Trotsky and other well known figures of the Russian revolution, the author reveals many interesting and curious details impossible to find in other historical sources.